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Dallas County employees need their W-2 forms. Can the technology firm handling the software deliver?

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Some Dallas County commissioners are worried that county employees won't get their W-2 tax forms in time.

A Dallas County technology vendor is in a time crunch to ensure software involved in a payroll crash last year performs to meet a fast-approaching federal requirement.

County leaders are watching closely. Accenture, the vendor leading fixes and maintenance, with county staff must use that same software to get correct W-2 tax documents out to everyone who did any work for the county in 2023 by a strict two-week tax deadline.

Austin-based Oracle Fusion software is used for accounting and payroll.

The payroll problems, which shorted thousands of county workers鈥 and contractors鈥 income and other benefits, triggered a federal investigation.

In June, the U.S. Department of Labor after Dallas County employees complained they weren鈥檛 being fully paid, the Dallas Morning News has reported. Employees have complained they鈥檙e not seeing paid time off accruing at the correct rate, and missing pay for hours worked.

Auditor Darryl Thomas resigned over the payroll trouble in August after more than 20 years with the county.

Commissioner Elba Garcia said during a committee meeting Jan. 8 they cannot let down employees this time.

鈥淩eality is we have two weeks,鈥 Garcia said. 鈥淲e are not going to have a second chance. We can put everything you want on the record, it's fine and dandy. From now on, we have a job cut out for us and we cannot afford to fail again.鈥

Nearly half a million dollars was approved by county commissioners Jan. 9 to get redirected from Oracle Fusion's contract for Accenture to take over post-production help.

Accenture Managing Director Omar Pe帽a promised to meet the January 31 deadline.

"That's our timeline,鈥 he said 鈥淎nd what we shared with you earlier is our timeline. And we're going to stick to our timeline because we deliver."

Commissioner Andy Sommerman teased him to start immediately.

"Alright, good,鈥 he said. 鈥淥mar, get to work. You only got two weeks. What are you doing sitting there? Come on, get with the program. Get moving.鈥

四虎影院 reporter Christopher Connelly contributed to this report.

Got a tip? Email Marina Trahan Martinez at mmartinez@kera.org. You can follow Marina at .

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Marina Trahan Martinez is 四虎影院's Dallas County government accountability reporter. She's a veteran journalist who has worked in the Dallas area for many years. Prior to coming to 四虎影院, she was on The Dallas Morning News Watchdog investigative and accountability team with Dave Lieber. She has written for The New York Times since 2001, following the 9/11 attacks. Many of her stories for The Times focused on social justice and law enforcement, including Botham Jean's murder by a Dallas police officer and her subsequent trial, Atatiana Jefferson's shooting death by a Fort Worth police officer, and protests following George Floyd's murder. Marina was part of The News team that a Pulitzer finalist for coverage of the deadly ambush of Dallas police officers in 2016.